learning to add photos, finally

Herding cats

The terrible twos have hit with a vengeance.  I thought we'd somehow sidestepped them by teaching Charlotte to sign.  She's such a great talker anyhow that she could say pretty much anything she's thinking or feeling by now.  I read in a few different places that the root of the terrible twos was frustration on the part of the child who isn't able to communicate, but that's not what's going on here.  Nope, we have full-fledged defiance.  A daily battle of wills.  A constant testing of limits.  And it's really really hard.

I'm slowly learning to pick my battles.  If Charlotte does something I'd rather she not do, I should redirect her away from whatever it is.  If I come right out and tell her NOT to do something, that's exactly what she then does, over and over, with giggles and grins the whole time.  Yesterday, it was swatting at her sister while we were all brushing our teeth (picture Charlotte standing on the counter, me behind her holding Maggie in one hand and my own toothbrush in the other.  It's that or I don't get to brush my teeth until after lunch.).  I explained that she was scaring Maggie and might hurt her; that we don't hit people; that she would not want anyone swatting at her.  It didn't matter what I said, Charlotte just kept swinging her arms at Maggie.  It was too late to just redirect her attention, and I didn't want her to think her actions were acceptable.  But what in the world can I do at that point?

Compounding the challenge is the fact that I have Maggie to contend with too, so I can't just drop everything and devote my full attention to Charlotte.  Besides, I don't want Charlotte to misbehave as a way to GET my full attention.  I try to devote at least 30 minutes each day just to Charlotte, one-on-one without computers or phones or a baby sister stealing any of my focus.  It's not that I ignore her the rest of the day, but my attention is perpetually split between the two kids, the house that always needs cleaning, bills that I need to pay, meals to prepare, etc.

Is this terrible twos, or sibling jealousy?  How do I discipline a 2 1/2 year old?  I think it's time I started attending the "Parenting Toddlers" support group.  If I learn anything earth-shattering, I'll share it with you.  Until then, I just need a sympathetic ear (or eye, in this case) to listen and nod in understanding.  Eventually, Charlotte won't be 2 any more.  And until then, I need to remember that her "terrible-ness" fills less than 2 hours out of the whole day.  She's still a complete joy the rest of the time.

7-month stats

Maggie had her "6"-month visit with the pediatrician today.  She's just under 27 inches tall and weighs 16 pounds 2 ounces.  She's in the 30-40th percentiles for weight and height.  Her head circumference is 17.5 inches, which is some higher percentile, but I forget what.  She's parallelling Charlotte's size now, I think.  This is the point in Charlotte's life when the doc suggested I supplement.  This time, even though Maggie has dropped a few percentiles, he declared that she looks healthy and is doing fine with whatever I'm feeding her.  Good, because I wasn't going to supplement anyhow.  So,  all continues to be well.  Both girls will get flu shots in a month- we'll see how that goes. And by falling a month behind on Maggie's appointments, we'll be able to take care of Maggie 12-month and Charlotte's 3-year visits all at once.

Pictures soon.  Honest!

Another month

Seven now.  I still have those stickers that I'm supposed to put on Maggie's tummy so I can record each month in photos, but they're never in the same room as the camera.  Or as Maggie and me.  Maybe tomorrow.  Then we'll only be 3 days late.

Anyhow, she'll have her "6" month pedi visit later this week and I'll know then how much she's grown.  I can't even begin to guess.  She looks a lot leaner to me, in both body and face.  She doesn't have the huge cheeks that Charlotte did, although people do sometimes comment on her cheeks (which I don't understand, aside from the fact that her whole face is adorable, including her cheeks).  She's pretty much completely in 9-month clothes now, although a few 6-month onesies and a whole lot of smaller pants still fit.  She's long, or seems so to me.  And oh so happy ALL the time.  Just tonight, when she was 45 minutes late to have her dinner and we made her ride in the car for an impromptu run to a favorite burrito take-out joint, Maggie was cracking up as Charlotte tried to imitate the "words" she was saying.

Maggie fusses a little when we put her to bed now, but doesn't full-out cry, and falls asleep within a few minutes.  She loves walking in the Ergo, which I have to say is the most comfortable front carrier I've worn.  I haven't tried it on my back yet, nor with Charlotte.  But I love having Maggie on my front where she can smile up at me whenever she wants to.  Sitting is very old hat.  The new skill this month is controlled falling.  When she wants to get down from her seated position, she tips over, on purpose and always to her left, and catches herself before her face or head can touch the floor.  It looks a little reckless, but I can tell by the complete lack of surprise that it's intentional.  Once down on her belly, though, she gets a little frustrated because rocking and rolling don't always take her exactly where she wants to go.

Baby Signing Time is a big hit and has become the household pacifier when Maggie does occasionally get upset, or when I need to occupy her so I can get something done.  She also loves standing- sitting on someone's lap is fun only for a couple of minutes, but standing is fun for as long as someone's willing to help her with the balance.

Sleep in general is great.  She's easy to put to bed at night or for naps, wakes up cheerful almost all of the time, and sleeps through the night (7:30-5ish) about 5 times each week.  She consistently wakes up at 2:30, though, those other two nights.  I've kept track of all her naps and feedings since she was born, so I looked at my notes to see if, maybe, she'd only nursed 4 times during the days preceding an interrupted night's sleep.  I looked for nap patterns- maybe she'd slept too much during the day.  A later-than-normal bedtime?  I haven't found an explanation.  Maybe I'm just a big softie two nights each week and it's all me, not her.  When she does wake during the night, she generally nurses for 20 minutes and goes right back to sleep.  Then she wakes up at 7, same time as Charlotte.

Feeding... she is so easily distracted that it's nearly impossible to get a full feed into her during the day.  I sometimes leave Charlotte in front of the TV watching Blues Clues so I can feed Maggie in her own room, but I can't do that multiple times each day.  Even if Charlotte is quietly "reading" or doing puzzles, Maggie has to look at her every minute or two to make sure she's not missing anything.  We're well into solids now, with two "meals" worked into our day as often as I can fit them in.  I try to coordinate Maggie's solid meals with Charlotte's lunch and dinner so the three (or four) of us can sit at the table together to eat.  She  jams two fingers in her mouth as soon as I withdraw the spoon, and ends up smearing food all over. She likes everything except green vegetables (peas and green beans, specifically) so far.  Maggie looks so proud and grown-up sitting in the highchair, and she attacks Mum Mums and puffs with great enthusiasm.  She's getting pretty good at picking things up off the tray.

I've been pretty awful with my own sleep habits lately, sometimes going to bed at 2 or 3 in the morning for no good reason.  I function pretty well but fall asleep every time I sit down.  I am making a serious effort to get back into a real routine, so no more post tonight.  I always promise photos, but rarely deliver.  I finally got a smart phone and have taken a lot of pictures with it, but haven't figured out how to put them on the computer yet (not that I expect it to be hard, I just haven't tried).  When I do that, I'll have lots to share.

G'night all.

Please help

The family at reproducing genius can use some help right now.  Their priceless little boy, who will turn 3 very soon, was just diagnosed with an extremely rare leukemia.  In addition to chemo, he needs a bone marrow transplant, and for that, a donor.  If you can spare a few dollars, donations can be made via paypal from a link on their blog.  If you want to show your support with a t-shirt, they can be purchased from the talented folks at chronicles of conception.  All the profits will go directly to Caemon's family.

Also, you can register as a potential bone marrow donor on be the match.

And finally, you can pray, wish, send healing thoughts, or simply hope that this little boy will be cured.  Every little bit helps.  We all know how precious a life is.

Six Months!

Wow.

Maggie continues to be an incredibly delightful baby.  She was under the weather over the weekend.  I diagnosed it as roseola and just kept her comfy, fed her whenever she wanted to eat (as briefly as she wanted), and let her nap the days away.  For the first time since she was itty bitty, she woke up crying twice so it was quite obvious that she wasn't feeling well.  Poor baby.  It came and went rather quickly, though, and she's already back to her smiley self.  I'm still waiting for her eating and sleeping habits to return to normal- she gets up around 2:30 am to nurse for 5-10 minutes, and she refuses to nurse for more than 5 minutes at any one time during the day.  I suspect the nighttime feeding is necessary since she's not eating much during the day, but I'm not sure how to "fix" the situation so we can go back to sleeping through the night.  I'm kind of hoping she's responding to the summer heat and will adjust once cooler weather sets in (please let that be soonish!).

The big accomplishment this month is SITTING.  She first sat, relatively unsupported, on Tuesday, 8/7.  We were on the floor at Charlotte's music class, with Maggie  wedged between my knees but holding herself up for 3-5 minutes at a stretch, repeatedly.  By the following Tuesday, she was able to sit with essentially no help at all for more than 10 minutes.  With a little experimentation, I found out that when she's tired, she collapses forward after a few minutes.  When she's playful and wants to get down and roll around on her own, she falls backwards or to the side/back.  She looks so proud of herself when she's sitting.  I have photos and will try to share them soon (I left the camera in her room and I am NOT risking waking her up to retrieve it).

Do I need to mention that rolling over is old hat by now?  She figured out that rolling is a form of locomotion, and covers every square inch of her crib before falling asleep.  She especially loves knocking over the monitor which we leave propped on a pillow outside one end of her crib.  She pokes at the glowing green light, and down it goes.

Maggie enjoys cereal on a daily basis now, and has tried carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, and winter squash.  She loves everything except the peas which made her shudder and gag, reminiscent of Charlotte's reaction to them.  She tries to grab everything to put it into her mouth- and I mean everything.  Two fingers on her right hand are almost always between her gums these days, even more so than just a few weeks ago.  I suspect we're in the very early stages of teething since she doesn't just suck on fingers.  She gnaws on them.  Aggressively.  I'm surprised she hasn't hurt herself.

Maggie still adores Charlotte and can't take her eyes off her big sister.  That, too, is likely contributing to her brief nursing sessions during the day.  I don't want to sit Charlotte in front of the TV every time I need to feed Maggie, so we're stuck all being in the same room at Maggie's mealtimes.  Charlotte is incapable of sitting still, or of being silent, so Maggie is perpetually distracted.  I don't fault either of the girls- that's just the way it is with a toddler and her adoring baby sister.

The pediatrician is on vacation so no 6-month appointment yet.  In fact, she'll be 7 months old when we finally see him again.  Fine with me- she is due for some shots and I'm in no hurry to get them.  I have no idea how much she weighs or how tall she is, but she has definitely grown.  We can no longer squeeze her into 6-month sleep-n-plays; she's just too long for them.  Separates in the 6-month size do still fit, so we're making it through the summer without having to supplement her wardrobe- hurray!  Size 3 diapers still fit, but where the tabs used to meet on her belly there's now a gap of about three-quarters of an inch.

Maggie has mastered the exersaucer- she stands fully upright in it (proudly, I must add), bounces, spins around, pokes at buttons that light up and make noise, and deftly maneuvers toys into her mouth. She loves dancing in the doorway jumper (when Charlotte lets her have a turn), and doesn't mind playing in the pack-n-play as long as someone is within sight of her.  When Charlotte is napping and Maggie and I get some one-on-one time, I let her sit in Charlotte's highchair and bang on the tray.  Apparently, that's a lot of fun.  She can't pick up a Cheerio yet, but that's good because she's not ready to eat them.  She does like gumming Num-Nums and teething biscuits into gooey oblivion and smearing the remains all over her face and hair.  She still enjoys her sippy cup very very much, filled only with water since I plan to wait until she's about a year old before introducing watered-down juice.

Maggie hasn't quite settled into a truly solid routine.  Some days, she naps 3 times.  Most days, twice.  She sleeps through the night (now that the roseola is gone... this post was completed on 8/21) most nights, going to bed around 7 and waking up at 5-ish for a quick meal and nap before really getting up for the day.  She only cries or fusses when she's very overtired, like after my parents babysit and my father refuses to put her in her crib because he wants to hold her all the time.  She lets out a little whimper whenever we walk into her room, but she doesn't object to going to bed so I'm not sure what the whimper is for.

When we're out and about, Maggie is content to sit in her car seat and watch everything happening around her.  She does get upset if everyone exits her line of sight, especially if Charlotte and I both disappear, but as long as she can see us she's happy to watch and entertain herself with whatever toys are in her lap.  She likes to play pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo, and thinks sneezes are hilarious.

All in all, things are fantastic.  We're busy and always falling behind on dishes and laundry, but Maggie is a happy baby, learning something new all the time, so I think we're doing OK.

Four years, two weeks

My blogiversary was 2 weeks ago.  I can't believe it's been over 4 years since I learned that our path to parenthood would be rocky.  Even more, I can't believe we are where we are now- parents to two incredible daughters who are better in every way than I could have imagined.  I've said it before, but it bears repeating- THANK YOU, dear IF community, for your camaraderie and support.  We would not have made it here without you.